From the time 14-year-old Ronald Gonzales entered his volt- ohm-meter in the science fair in Orange County, California, he has been fascinated with applied learning, critical thinking, and analytical skills. He has continued to develop those skills and pass them on to others as an award-winning educator. Honored recently by the Association of Career and Technical Educators, International Technology Educators Association, and Epsilon Pi Tau (international honor society for professionals in technology), Ronald has been a 30-year fixture at Brigham Young University.
In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Ronald has been instrumental, as an associate director, in the development of the Sun Microsystems, Center of Excellence, Brigham Young University. The mission statement for SunCoE is to promote secure information systems and data privacy communications.
He has conducted research with laser, holography, fiber optics, agricultural technology, and automotive products. Ronald serves as a consultant to several organizations across the country. Since he started his post-secondary education, Ronald has written more than 50 technical publications and papers, five books, and given numerous presentations.
Ronald is appreciative of the guidance he received from several professors during his two-year tenure as a doctoral student at Purdue. He is even more proud to work with them as colleagues.
Ronald and his wife, Eileen, reside in Pleasant Grove, Utah. They have six grown children and 20 grandchildren.
This was originally written for the Distinguished Technology Alumni Awards in 2007.